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Friday, September 19, 2014

The books that I picked for October are "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt and "The Bride" by Julie Garwood. "The Secret History" is somewhat of a departure from our usual reads. It literary fiction and quite dark. It is one of my favorite books and I want to see what others think about this book. The other book "The Bride" is "old school" historical romance.

The Secret HistoryBy Donna Tartt(Literary Fiction)Richard Papen arrived at Hampden College in New England and was quickly seduced by an elite group of five students, all Greek scholars, all worldly, self-assured, and, at first glance, all highly unapproachable. As Richard is drawn into their inner circle, he learns a terrifying secret that binds them to one another...a secret about an incident in the woods in the dead of night where an ancient rite was brought to brutal life...and led to a gruesome death. And that was just the beginning...The BrideBy Julie Garwood(Historical Romance)

By the king's edict, Alec Kincaid, mightiest of the Scottish lairds, must take an English bride. And Jamie the youngest daughter of Baron Jamison, is his choice. From his first glimpse of the proud and beautiful English lady, Alec felt a burning hunger stir within him. This was a woman worthy of his fearless warrior's spirit. And he aches to touch her, tame her, possess her...forever.But with the wedding vows, Jamie pledges her own secret oath: She will never surrender her love to this Highland barbarian. He was everything her heart warned her against -- an arrogant, brooding scoundrel whose rough good looks and seductive embrace fire her blood. But when strange accidents begin to threaten Jamie's life and an old rumor that Alec killed his first wife spreads anew, something far more dangerous than desire threatens to conquer her senses.

Monday, September 15, 2014

So it has been a long time since I felt like writing a
review of a book, let alone a contemporary romance review. A few weekends ago I needed something to read
so I checked out the MaineInfo Download Library. I came across a Kristan Higgins book set here
in Maine. I have been meaning to read
one of her books since last year when I heard her speak at the RWA
conference. I was even lucky enough to
ride to the airport with her and her husband.

I don’t even remember the last time that I read a contemporary
romance. I have pretty much been
sticking to paranormal/urban fantasy and historical romance genres.

I decided to pick “Somebody to Love” to download seeing that
it takes place in a small Maine coastal town.
This is the third book in her Gideon’s Cove series, but I didn't feel
like I was missing much by not having read the first or second book in the
series.

We meet Parker Harrington, reading from her wildly
successful, children’s series “The Holy Rollers.” The premise is that six children who have
died come back to Earth as angels and travel around via magical roller skates,
thus the “Holy Rollers”. She has just
finished writing the last book in the series. The books are so sweet that even she is
nauseated by her books. She can’t
believe that she invented the term “Warm Fuzzles.” The only reason that she
kept writing the series is that all of the profits go to a charity for
children, seeing that Parker comes from money, with a capital “M”.

That is about to change.
Her father is going away to prison for insider trading, and he had to
empty Parker’s and her son’s trust funds to make restitution. Her father, accompanied by his lawyers (which
Parker refers to as “Thing 1” and “Thing 2”) informs her of her new situation
the night before he enters federal prison.
Also she needs to move out of the family mansion, seeing that it has
been sold. She is informed by “Thing 1”
or James that she does own property up in Gideon’s Cove, Maine.

She had forgotten
that an elderly relative had left her a house, so she hopes that she might able
to sell it and make a profit to buy a house back in Rhode Island. While her son is on vacation with his dad,
she decides to head to Maine and flip her house. When she arrives in Maine she finds that her “cottage”
is more or less a seaside shanty. Shortly after she arrives in Maine, James or “Thing
1,” arrives to help her renovate the house.
And this is where the fun begins, Parker thinks that the only reason that
James is there is the fact that he is being paid. He is in fact out of a job
and figures that he might as well help Parker, plus he has feeling for her.

This was over all a fun, light, and funny read. Ms. Higgins crafts likable funny and
realistic characters. You complete
believe where the two main characters are coming from. So if you haven’t read a contemporary romance
in a while I would suggest picking up one of Ms. Higgins books.

We will have our first meeting of the fall this Thursday, September 18th at 6:00 PM. This meeting will take place in the small conference room on the second floor. It should make for a very cozy meeting. We will discuss "The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion and I will let folks know what we will be reading for October. I don't think that I will be having an online vote this year. Our Circulation staff is spread pretty thin and I don't have enough time to change the voting webpage. I think for October's books I may just make the choice. And hopefully we can come up with a away for the book group members to help choose in the future.